So, once again Christmas is almost here! It doesn’t seem like a year ago that the X-Factor crowned yet another winner, leaving the rest of the contestants floating around the oceans and opening supermarkets, trying to make something of what was.
We’re currently working on putting together our Christmas programming, but in the mean time, and to get you in the Christmas mood, here are some tracks that you might just enjoy!
Monday, 12 December 2011
Friday, 11 November 2011
The Poppy
As I write this, today's date is the 11th of November 2011. Armistice day. I could go on a political rant, or delve into the history of it all, but, to be honest, I find it difficult to write anything. I’m lucky enough to work with many radio stations around the world, but one that stands out particularly at this time of year is Garrison FM, the British Army’s very own radio station.
It was last summer when I was given an opportunity to enter one of their barracks to interview some soldiers. It should have a been a straight forward job, go in, grab some clips and leave again. It would be no different to my daily life of working in London in the world of celebrity, or so I had thought.
After going through the security checks to actually get beyond the walls of the base, I was then ushered through a series of corridors, after being convoyed half way around this behemoth community.
There, I was led past a series of bags with the traditional camouflage army branding, stacked up and waiting to be shipped with their owners, who were waiting around the corner, to Afghanistan. The atmosphere could have been cut like warm knife through butter; full of chatter, nervousness and laughter, most likely to hide the nerves.
I watched as these young soldiers picked up medical documents, passports and dog tags so they could be identified, incase the inevitable happened. One by the one, they entered and left the room. Each one of them paler than when they entered.
Interviewing them should have been a straight forward job, as I said before, but something in my heart said this was going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. As I stood outside with the waiting families of the soldiers, there was an air of sadness. How could you possibly interview someone who is just about to be sent half way around the globe, and then ask how they are feeling about the trip away?
I’ll be honest, nerves got the better of me and my voice broke a couple of times. But I did what I was there to do.
I was escorted off in the same way I entered, and went back to the radio studio, where I had to then sit and try and present a radio show for the next 2 hours. There was a frog in my throat, and I tried to reflected about my experiences on air.
It didn’t matter what was troubling me that day, it became insignificant after what I had just done. It made all the news stories that are so regularly on the television and in the paper, that are glazed over by the masses, come to life.
The boys and girls I met that day are one of the reasons I bought I poppy, and why I’ll be observing the silence at 11am today, and again on Sunday. I think Edwin Starr got it spot on; “War, What is it good for? Absolutely nothing”
For more information about the Poppy Appeal, visit www.britishlegion.org.uk
It was last summer when I was given an opportunity to enter one of their barracks to interview some soldiers. It should have a been a straight forward job, go in, grab some clips and leave again. It would be no different to my daily life of working in London in the world of celebrity, or so I had thought.
After going through the security checks to actually get beyond the walls of the base, I was then ushered through a series of corridors, after being convoyed half way around this behemoth community.
There, I was led past a series of bags with the traditional camouflage army branding, stacked up and waiting to be shipped with their owners, who were waiting around the corner, to Afghanistan. The atmosphere could have been cut like warm knife through butter; full of chatter, nervousness and laughter, most likely to hide the nerves.
I watched as these young soldiers picked up medical documents, passports and dog tags so they could be identified, incase the inevitable happened. One by the one, they entered and left the room. Each one of them paler than when they entered.
Interviewing them should have been a straight forward job, as I said before, but something in my heart said this was going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. As I stood outside with the waiting families of the soldiers, there was an air of sadness. How could you possibly interview someone who is just about to be sent half way around the globe, and then ask how they are feeling about the trip away?
I’ll be honest, nerves got the better of me and my voice broke a couple of times. But I did what I was there to do.
I was escorted off in the same way I entered, and went back to the radio studio, where I had to then sit and try and present a radio show for the next 2 hours. There was a frog in my throat, and I tried to reflected about my experiences on air.
It didn’t matter what was troubling me that day, it became insignificant after what I had just done. It made all the news stories that are so regularly on the television and in the paper, that are glazed over by the masses, come to life.
The boys and girls I met that day are one of the reasons I bought I poppy, and why I’ll be observing the silence at 11am today, and again on Sunday. I think Edwin Starr got it spot on; “War, What is it good for? Absolutely nothing”
For more information about the Poppy Appeal, visit www.britishlegion.org.uk
Friday, 14 October 2011
Don't be a Muppet
Or do in this case!
With rumours floating around the animation world that the Simpson's voice cast are being asked to take a pay cut, we thought we would dig out some clips from an all time family favourite...The Muppets.
Yes, the make up of Pigs, Dogs, Frogs and other unknowns, have entertained millions of people around the globe for decades. Here are just a few things to get you started!
Statler and Waldorf:
Some musical numbers:
They're also coming back to the big screen:
And finally, not an official Muppet movie, but we like it anyway!
Find more from the Muppets on their YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/MuppetsStudio
With rumours floating around the animation world that the Simpson's voice cast are being asked to take a pay cut, we thought we would dig out some clips from an all time family favourite...The Muppets.
Yes, the make up of Pigs, Dogs, Frogs and other unknowns, have entertained millions of people around the globe for decades. Here are just a few things to get you started!
Statler and Waldorf:
Some musical numbers:
They're also coming back to the big screen:
And finally, not an official Muppet movie, but we like it anyway!
Find more from the Muppets on their YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/MuppetsStudio
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Orchestral Maneuvers
As fans of music here at MIAH Towers, we love stumbling across a fresh new sound, or a different approach to a song. This weeks blog post is dedicated to the musicians; namely orchestras.
Now before you switch off, take a chance and have a listen to some of the below. Who said instruments weren't cool?
So there you have it. People, playing music, in a way that you may not have even thought about!
Now before you switch off, take a chance and have a listen to some of the below. Who said instruments weren't cool?
So there you have it. People, playing music, in a way that you may not have even thought about!
Friday, 9 September 2011
Hitting Home
Every now and again, there will be a video that pops up that really gets you thinking. This is one that caught our attention this week - please, just take 3 minutes and have a watch of this:
Thursday, 18 August 2011
This weeks blog is brought to you by the letter A*...
Well, it's that time of year for many young people to find out their fate as they open an envelope on A-Level results day. Of course, it's no different to when you did it the first time round with GCSE's, but this time it will maybe determine the rest of your life.
I remember both of the days fondly, going down to my school to pick up the paper that decided my fate, and low and behold, I hadn't done that well. Not surprising really when I had spent most of my revision time playing football and sitting on the beach. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. In hindsight, I probably should have studied more.
Panicking wasn't my first point of call though. I managed to scrape into university in the town of Bolton. A place, which caused me to grow up pretty quickly and find out who I really was. Incidentally, it wasn't even radio, or anything near to media, that I chose to study! It was actually computing. It was quite a lazy option really; I had studied it at GCSE and at A-Level and assumed this was the natural path that I should be taking.
I stuck it out for about a year, walking over exams where they had practically given you the answer and sitting in lectures just one day a week. In my spare time I wrote course work and worked in one of the local bars, serving people into the twilight hours in order to buy food and spend it on what I poured the punters by night. I quit university after finding myself getting bored with the monotone, bland life that I was leading and went back to my home in Essex to become a postman and try to work out what I should do.
I had always wanted to be in radio. I remember dancing around the room to Top of The Pops, and pretending to run in front of the TV while watching 'Whitney Houston's - I Will Always Love You' for weeks on end. It became more of a running joke (if you pardon the pun) and to this day I still don't know why I did that! I also have fond memories of going to the Radio 1 roadshow in Clacton every year, watching Simon Mayo ask the crowd to yell "MAYO" at the end of him trying to impersonate the Outhere Brothers hit at the time called 'Boom Boom Boom'. The one thing that always got my pulse racing though was the sound of live radio. I was one of those kids who used to phone local radio shows to try and win competitions (I did win once - tickets to see Mike Bassett: England Manager at the local cinema), but specifically, sitting down on a Sunday and listening to Alan 'Fluff' Freeman rattle off the chart, at what seemed like a million miles an hour. It wasn't so much what he was playing, but how he was saying things and what made the show flow together. From that I went on and discovered the likes of Chris Evans, Sara Cox, Scott Mills and Chris Moyles. I was hooked. I did try in my younger days to get into the radio industry, but was knocked back several times due to my lack of experience and my tender age.
I was lucky enough to fall on my feet, when one day I was offered a job by a small radio station to go and sort out their music database when I injured my leg. I had worked for them in the past when they were operating as a television and local radio station production company. I was overjoyed, mainly because I got me out of the house (I hadn't been out for weeks due to not being able to walk), but also it was a lifeline into what I wanted to do.
Since that day, I have grasped the dream tightly and never looked back, and have the pleasure of working with some of the greatest, funniest, cleverest and talented people ever to grace the airwaves. I learned from them everything that I could and adapted it into my own way to further myself. I now produce programmes on a national, local and international level, run outside broadcasts and design shows with a variety of topics.
Whatever you get in your A-Levels today, don't worry about a thing. Having passion for what you want to do in life is worth a million times more than a piece of paper with a letter on it.
I remember both of the days fondly, going down to my school to pick up the paper that decided my fate, and low and behold, I hadn't done that well. Not surprising really when I had spent most of my revision time playing football and sitting on the beach. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. In hindsight, I probably should have studied more.
Panicking wasn't my first point of call though. I managed to scrape into university in the town of Bolton. A place, which caused me to grow up pretty quickly and find out who I really was. Incidentally, it wasn't even radio, or anything near to media, that I chose to study! It was actually computing. It was quite a lazy option really; I had studied it at GCSE and at A-Level and assumed this was the natural path that I should be taking.
I stuck it out for about a year, walking over exams where they had practically given you the answer and sitting in lectures just one day a week. In my spare time I wrote course work and worked in one of the local bars, serving people into the twilight hours in order to buy food and spend it on what I poured the punters by night. I quit university after finding myself getting bored with the monotone, bland life that I was leading and went back to my home in Essex to become a postman and try to work out what I should do.
I had always wanted to be in radio. I remember dancing around the room to Top of The Pops, and pretending to run in front of the TV while watching 'Whitney Houston's - I Will Always Love You' for weeks on end. It became more of a running joke (if you pardon the pun) and to this day I still don't know why I did that! I also have fond memories of going to the Radio 1 roadshow in Clacton every year, watching Simon Mayo ask the crowd to yell "MAYO" at the end of him trying to impersonate the Outhere Brothers hit at the time called 'Boom Boom Boom'. The one thing that always got my pulse racing though was the sound of live radio. I was one of those kids who used to phone local radio shows to try and win competitions (I did win once - tickets to see Mike Bassett: England Manager at the local cinema), but specifically, sitting down on a Sunday and listening to Alan 'Fluff' Freeman rattle off the chart, at what seemed like a million miles an hour. It wasn't so much what he was playing, but how he was saying things and what made the show flow together. From that I went on and discovered the likes of Chris Evans, Sara Cox, Scott Mills and Chris Moyles. I was hooked. I did try in my younger days to get into the radio industry, but was knocked back several times due to my lack of experience and my tender age.
I was lucky enough to fall on my feet, when one day I was offered a job by a small radio station to go and sort out their music database when I injured my leg. I had worked for them in the past when they were operating as a television and local radio station production company. I was overjoyed, mainly because I got me out of the house (I hadn't been out for weeks due to not being able to walk), but also it was a lifeline into what I wanted to do.
Since that day, I have grasped the dream tightly and never looked back, and have the pleasure of working with some of the greatest, funniest, cleverest and talented people ever to grace the airwaves. I learned from them everything that I could and adapted it into my own way to further myself. I now produce programmes on a national, local and international level, run outside broadcasts and design shows with a variety of topics.
Whatever you get in your A-Levels today, don't worry about a thing. Having passion for what you want to do in life is worth a million times more than a piece of paper with a letter on it.
Friday, 29 July 2011
Bangers and mash
It's Friday once again (hooray!), and this week we have decided to enter the world of mashups, songs mixed together for your listening pleasure.
Firstly, have a watch of this chap who mixes rather well using some sort of fancy gizmo...
And now for some other tracks which you will no doubt recognise:
These are just a few, but by all means let us know of any great ones!
Firstly, have a watch of this chap who mixes rather well using some sort of fancy gizmo...
And now for some other tracks which you will no doubt recognise:
These are just a few, but by all means let us know of any great ones!
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Air guitars at the ready
Happy almost weekend!
We thought we would deliver you some new music to set you up for the weekend ahead, including Man Without Country which you may recognise from the Samsung TV ad. Air guitars at the ready!
The Van Susans - Cha Cha Bang:
Stalker - Fake Tan Disaster:
Black Circles - Final Straw:
Man Without Country - Inflammable Heart
We thought we would deliver you some new music to set you up for the weekend ahead, including Man Without Country which you may recognise from the Samsung TV ad. Air guitars at the ready!
The Van Susans - Cha Cha Bang:
Stalker - Fake Tan Disaster:
Black Circles - Final Straw:
Man Without Country - Inflammable Heart
Thursday, 14 July 2011
It's Friday...(almost!)
So, we've resurrected our blog (excuse the layout for the time being!) with more things which we hope you'll love!
Just the 2 things for you this week. Jezza Kyle... autotuned!
And the amount of people who have never heard this still suprises us!
Have a great weekend!
Just the 2 things for you this week. Jezza Kyle... autotuned!
And the amount of people who have never heard this still suprises us!
Have a great weekend!
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